Aibu to worry about how tired I feel?

[homeandstillhome]

I had my iron tested which was ok. I have 6 children and I home educate 4 of them ( I also have a 12 year old who goes to secondary and a one year old).

The thing is I am SO tired all the time. My gp pretty much puts it down to having the 6 children but tbh I don't feel like it is that - I don't feel like my days are hard or stressful . I enjoy the way our life is ! Today for example I got up at 8:30 did some tidying and then some workbooks and reading and now the baby is napping and the kids are playing outside and yet I have been feeling exhausted since about 11?

It's not just sleepy I feel weak and just out of it.

Aibu to ask my gp to look into ? Any time I mention anything I get the well you do have six kids line.

[marabounuts]

what else did the Gp test for? in my case it was lot ferritin (low iron storage) which wasn't part of the standard tests (I went back a few times for further tests). But there can be a a lot of other things. hopefully some more helpful posters will be along soon.

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

How much sleep do you get?

I feel knackered at the thought of a) 6 children and b) home education

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

I think it's worth getting your thyroid levels checked. An interactive thyroid is fairly common, symptoms include extreme tiredness, slow thoughts, sometimes dry skin and hair or feeling sensitive to cold.
It would be worth taking a multi vitamin and iron supplement daily in the meantime and upping your water intake.
Hope you feel better soon.

[WetDogLovesHubert]

Did you get your Vitamin D levels checked at the same time?

Similarly, I had found myself very tired for a long time and went to have my iron levels checked. Iron and a whole host of others were fine, but my Vitamin D levels were officially below the line for a deficiency. I've been taking supplements for 3 weeks now and have significantly higher energy levels, and am generally feeling much happier.

Have a scout around on the general health board - there are a few really helpful threads in there if you do find out you are deficient. Get your doctor to do the blood test if they haven't already!

[homeandstillhome]

Mara - nothing I don't think just iron he mentioned.

[homeandstillhome]

Testing embarrassingly I get loads of sleep . The last couple of months o have been asleep by 9:00pm I'm so tired and getting up between 7and 9 most days

I used to get up at 6 and go to bed a more normal time but I can't seem to manage it !

[00Salix00]

Ask for your vitamin D levels to be checked. I had low vitamin D and felt constantly tired, weak, dizzy and got palpitations etc. I was surprised the effect D deficiency had to be honest. You may need prescription level vitamin D. Takes a good couple of months to start feeling better.

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

It's also worth considering other factors; being under or overweight, sleep apnoea (?) anxiety or stress and heavy periods can all cause tiredness. Also avoid too much sugar as this will continually spike your blood sugar levels, causing a cycle of depleted energy.

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

Could you be pregnant? I can sleep for England in the first few weeks of pregnancy!

[WetDogLovesHubert]

Yes, I'll second what @00Salix00 has written - I was told by my GP to get my Vitamin D from any pharmacy, but following the advice on another thread I'm having 5x the daily amount so that I can correct my deficiency.

Another poster @Bettertobehealthy seems to be very clued up on this and may be able to help if you do get tested and that's found to be the cause.

[Greyponcho]

There are many types of anaemia, not just the iron deficient one, there's b12 or folate deficiency (that's pernicious anemia) that may be causing your issue.
Also coeliac disease often has exhaustion as a symptom, which can be detected by blood test too

[mummytime]

Go back and ask for full testing. Ones I can think of are: Vit D, Iron (and there is more than one test), Thyroid, Coeliacs.
Also get your levels after the testing, as for example you can be pretty low but still seen as okay in this country/by some doctors/in some areas.

[tinyterrors]

Definitely go back to the GP.

I went to the GP with symptoms of being exhausted no matter how much or how little sleep I got, I felt the same after a weekend with 5 hours sleep in two days as I did when I'd had 10 hours sleep. I was also getting joint pain, feeling fuzzy/couldn't think straight, feeling dizzy and getting palpitations. I was fobbed off by one GP who said it was to be expected with four young dcs.

I went back to a different GP who did a full set of blood tests which came back okay for most things, iron was on the low side of normal but vitamin D was very low. I was given very high strength vitamin D tablets to take once a week for 8 weeks to see how I felt and have repeat blood tests done. Within days of taking the first tablets I felt less tired, after the second dose I felt so much better and with each week I feel better and better.

The day before I'm due to take the vitamin D I start getting tired but otherwise I feel amazing. I have energy again, I'm not falling asleep at 11am, I can think straight, the joint pain is all but gone and I've had no palpitations since the second dose of vitamin D. I can't believe the difference taking a vitamin has made.

Now whenever anyone says they're fed up of being exhausted I've been telling them to get their vitamin D levels checked or just take extra high strength vitamin D3 from health shops. Of those who have been tested they were all vitamin D deficient, one is needle phobic so opted for the otc vitamin D and can't believe the difference in how how she feels.

Don't be fobbed off op. It could be having 6 dcs but it could be something else.

[Ekphrasis]

You sound a bit like I do when underactive thyroid wise.

Does hoovering a room require you to have a rest afterwards? or can't be bothered hoovering any more? Brain fog, possibly constipation, slightly swollen ankles? My main thyroid symptoms.

Vit d can have similar symptoms as can low b 12 so worth checking all.

By the way, I do notice fatigue symptoms when ferritin is below 50 which is technically under though most people are ok and gps tend not to bother at that level. Over 70 is 'officially' normal.

[mummy2oneandtwo]

Have you had your B12 levels checked? Them being low can cause extreme tiredness, I've recently had low B12 and just completed 5 fun 'loading' injections to try and get my levels up again....hopefully it works

[poorpaws]

CFS - chronic fatigue syndrome? Also known as ME.

[Xmasbaby11]

To be fair, your life sounds very tiring and even with decent amounts of sleep, I would personally be physically and emotionally drained to spend my days surrounded by children. Presumably you only have a couple of hours to yourself in the evening if you go to bed so early?

But if this is unusual for you, I would ask for full bloods, as other pp have suggested. I've had problems with low iron and a Vit D deficiency but to be honest the medication made little difference - I just found I needed more time to myself to recharge, so I now pay for more childcare!

[ghostyslovesheets]

ask them to check your thyroid and B12

I feel odd and spacey when I miss my Thyroid meds and B12 deficiency made me feel like I had dementia and chronic exhaustion

[DwightKSchrute]

It's not normal to feel like that, however many children you have and it's my bugbear that so many women get fobbed off. Definitely go back to the GP, check thyroid and ferritin, and please be aware that you can be in the 'normal range' but still not feel well. I lost 25 years of my life to underactive thyroid/ anaemia - please don't do the same.

[Rossigigi]

Check B12 levels